Ganassi is now listed as the owner of the 8 car, not the number - Nascar leases the numbers to the teams each year. If they don’t run it next year it will be up for grabs.
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The Subway Fresh Fit 500, which continues the stupid trend of sponsors wanting to wedge in a motto or specific branding campaign into race titles, is not 500 miles as the name would imply, but is rather 312 miles, which is roughly 500 kilometers. (So, see? People will use the Metric system, but only when they want to cheat about something. In other news, the announced attendance for the 76,800-person track will probably be 110,000 Metric people.) The Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 Nationwide race, on the other hand, does use Imperial measurements to determine its “race length.” Hey, if measurement system differences are good enough to cause a $325 million wreck on Mars, its good enough to confuse NASCAR fans.
Phoenix International Raceway, situated in Avondale, Arizona, is what’s called a “D”-shaped tri-oval, one mile in length. But that doesn’t really do justice to its odd shape. Just look at NASCAR’s map of the track. The backstretch has an odd-angled bend in the middle which has the effect of making Turns 1 and 2 a little tighter than Turns 3 and 4.
And the banking is odd as a result as well. The frontstretch is 3°, the backstretch is 9°, Turns 1 & 2 are 11° and Turns 3 & 4 are 9°. Purely in terms of corner banking, this technically makes it flatter than even Martinsville, although with only 1° of separation, it’s a minor distinction.
But ultimately, it’s odd shape is what gives it character. (Are you listening ISC and SMI, you purveyors of 1.5-mile ovals?) And the drivers love it. It finished second tied with Atlanta and only behind Bristol in an anonymous poll of the drivers’ favorite tracks.
The reason its popular is because the track varies things up a lot. There are lots of different lines to try on the track and the best line will often vary based on track conditions. Add to that the fact that this race starts near sunset and ends at night, and you will see changing conditions as the night progresses.
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